China Daily Newspaper reports that the Chinese government will launch an "anti-jamming" TV satellite to prevent another round of "malicious interruptions" of state-run media by the outlawed Falungong spiritual organization.
The "technical reinforcement" was decided on after Falungong followers based in Taiwan hijacked a series of mainland television broadcasts, instead beaming propaganda by the group into people's homes, the report said. China complained angrily last month that its SINOSAT system had been regularly cut into over previous weeks by television signals coming from Taiwan…Broadcasting officials said that the latest satellite, made by Alcatel Space and due to be launched aboard a Chinese Long March IIIB rocket, would be immune to such interference.
"The satellite will be reinforced by state-of-the-art technology to make acts of sabotage technically impossible," said Liu Zhixiong of China Great Wall Industry Corp., which makes the Long March rockets.
The Chinese government banned Falungong in 1999 as an "evil cult"; since then, the group's followers have faced brutal repression. Hundreds of its members are said to have died in state custody.
